‘Vital issues’ being missed in post-closure DSIT limbo, say MPs

MPs have asked the new UK government to clarify what the dissolution of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) means in practice and where the axed department’s teams will end up. 

The House of Commons’ Science, Innovation and Technology committee has written to three secretaries of state about the latest machinery of government changes. 

The group expressed concern that, two weeks on from the announcement of the abolition of DSIT, ministerial portfolios have yet to be announced and it is unclear where civil servants who previously worked in the department will go. 

Committee chair and Labour MP Chi Onwurah writes in the letter that the matter “concerns both my committee and the thousands of civil servants affected”. 

“We are yet to see a detailed statement about what the abolition of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will mean in practice,” she said. 

“The big picture idea of embedding these policy areas across government, rather than being siloed, has merit,” she said. “But there is also a risk that these changes lead to fragmented policy delivery and vital issues slipping down the agenda”. 

Onwurah referenced the recent announcement of funding cuts at the observatory Jodrell Bank as an example of where “accountability is needed”.

“It is vital that the government confirm the details of its plans, and which ministers will be responsible for implementing them, as soon as possible,” she continued. “My committee will be scrutinising these plans in detail when parliament returns in September.” 

She asked the government to confirm the accuracy of media reports about how DSIT's teams will be distributed, when the government expected to finalise the transition and when finalised ministerial portfolios would be announced. 

Onwurah also asked whether there would continue to be ministers dedicated to digital infrastructure and online safety. 

The university sector is still awaiting confirmation of who will be the next science minister, following the departure of Patrick Vallance as part of new prime minister Andy Burnham’s re-shuffle.

Although Chris McDonald was named by a Labour Party LinkedIn account as his replacement, the appointment has yet to be formally announced on other channels and the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade has repeatedly declined to confirm the post.

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com